By John Hodge
The men’s curling at the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games is well underway, which means it’s time to take stock of where all 10 teams currently stand.
After a nine-day round robin, the top four countries will advance to the playoffs where the first and fourth-place teams play one semifinal and the second and third-place teams play the other.
Since the Nagano 1998 Olympic Winter Games, a round robin record of 6-3 or better has always been good enough to earn a playoff berth. With this in mind, let’s take stock of how the men stack up with the first three days of the round robin having come to a close.
The field has been broken into four different tiers.
Fantastico
Canada (3-0)
Brad Jacobs and his rink started the round robin with a 7-6 win over Germany, which went to an extra end after Marc Muskatewitz’s hit-and-roll in the tenth end spun perfectly to sit two.
Canada was momentarily in trouble in the extra when a runback from Marc Kennedy inadvertently removed two of his own stones, though Jacobs was eventually left with an open hit for the game-winning point and made no mistake.
The squad from the Glencoe Club in Calgary, Alta. knocked off the United States in their second game 6-3 thanks in part to a remarkable shot from Jacobs in the fourth end.
His stone found a small port, then narrowly ticked one of his own to bump an American rock from the four foot for two. The game was put on ice in the eighth end when U.S. skip Daniel Casper was left with an extremely difficult angle raise against three but only made it well enough to limit Canada to a steal of two.
The Canadians kept their perfect record alive against Sweden on Friday night, winning 8-6 after cracking a four-ender in the eighth end.
Swedish skip Niklas Edin faced four Canadian stones with his last rock but only managed to remove one, leaving Jacobs with a full-eight draw for a bundle.
The game included some controversy, as the Swedes alleged to officials that the Canadians were double-touching stones upon release.
Ben Hebert, the Canadian lead, then alleged that Swedish third Oskar Eriksson was doing the same. Edin and Hebert then exchanged some heated words, which were caught on the broadcast.
Marc Kennedy, Canada’s third, alleged later in the game that the Swedes tried to distract him while throwing a rock and swore at Eriksson. In all, the Canadians have to be thrilled with their start.
They’re throwing 88.1 percent as a team, which ranks second in the field, with Jacobs himself throwing 90.8 percent.
Switzerland (3-0)
After a session one bye, Yannick Schwaller’s rink opened their schedule with a 8-3 victory over the United States on Thursday. The game was close until fourth thrower Benoît Schwarz-van Berkel drew for three in the sixth end, then Daniel Casper missed a long angle runback to give up a steal of two one end later, blowing the game wide open. The Swiss knocked off Czechia on Friday morning by a score of 7-3.
The key score came in the fifth end when Lukáš Klima missed a double-runback for two, handing Switzerland a steal of one and a 5-1 lead at the break. Switzerland knocked off China on Friday night by a score of 9-7 after stealing in ends nine and ten to secure the victory.
Schwarz-van Berkel made a beautiful tap for three in the fourth end, which was the biggest score of the game. The 34-year-old native of Zürich currently ranks first among fourth throwers at 91.8 percent. Schwaller’s rink is the top team in shot percentage at 88.4, led by lead Pablo Lachat-Couchepin at 93.6 percent.
The Swiss haven’t had the toughest schedule so far but they’re taking care of business early.
Rock solid
Great Britain (2-1)
Bruce Mouat’s top-ranked team dominated China in a 9-4 win on Wednesday, scoring three in the third and seventh ends to build an insurmountable lead.
Fresh off a disappointing fourth-place finish in the mixed doubles, Mouat shot 93 percent in the victory, tying second Bobby Lammie as the game’s top performer.
The team based out of the Gogar Park Curling Club in Edinburgh, Scotland returned to the ice on Thursday with a 6-3 win over Sweden.
The Brits stole one in the fifth end when Niklas Edin’s runback attempt was slightly off-line, then clinched the game in the eighth end when Edin was forced to take one after missing another difficult runback.
Great Britain suffered an upset loss to Italy on Friday morning, but there’s no reason for them to panic just yet.
Mouat was the consensus team to beat heading into this event and they’re throwing a very respectable 87.7 percent as a team through three games, which ranks third in the field.
Italy (2-1)
The hometown heroes got off to a strong start on Wednesday when they won 7-6 over Sweden, who captured gold in Beijing in 2022. Joël Retornaz, the team’s veteran skip, made arguably the shot of the Olympics to finish the fifth end when he perfectly angled an Italian stone back to remove a Swedish rock and stuck it for three. Italy rolled their momentum into Friday morning when they knocked off Great Britain, the No. 1-ranked team in the world. Retornaz’s team stole four in the first end when Bruce Mouat’s runback attempt ended in disaster, removing two British stones from the four foot. Mouat didn’t go away easily, stealing in the fifth and ninth ends, though Retornaz made a short runback for two in the tenth end to win 9-7 as the crowd went wild. The Italians had a brilliant chance to improve to 3-0 against Germany on Friday night, though Retornaz came up light of the house on his first stone of the tenth end, allowing the opposition to make a simple takeout to force the extra end. Italy clogged the button area in the extra end but German skip Marc Muskatewitz made a beautiful shot on his last to win the game. Last month, Retornaz suggested that being the home team again 20 years after making his Olympic debut in Turin could “make the difference in the end.” The loss to Germany hurts, but if Italy’s strong start to the round robin is any indication, he might just be right.
Norway (2-1)
After a schedule-opening loss to Germany, Norway bounced back on Friday morning with an 8-6 win over China. The Norwegians got into trouble in the second end and skip Magnus Ramsfjell was unable to bail them out, coming slightly heavy on a raise to give up a steal of two.
The team continued to battle, however, eventually clinching the victory with an open hit in the extra end. Norway made it a two-win Friday when they knocked off Czechia by a score of 7-4. The team notched deuces in ends four, six, and eight, two of which came after Ramsfjell drew for a piece of the button.
Bendik Ramsfjell, the team’s second, shot only 68 percent in the win but was rescued by cousin Magnus, who shot 92 percent. Based out of the Trondheim Curlingklubb, located 500 kilometres north of Oslo, Ramsfjell’s squad still has to play many of the top teams at the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games. With that said, they’re off to a respectable start in the meantime.
Germany (2-1)
After a first-draw loss to Canada, the Germans bounced back with a 5-4 win over Norway on Thursday. Marc Muskatewitz, the team’s skip, made a brilliant angle raise to score three in the third end and the team defended their lead well until the final stone. Germany won a second-straight game on Friday night when Muskatewitz made a beautiful shot in the extra end to sit one against Italy, securing a 6-5 victory.
With Canada and Italy now in the rearview mirror, the Germans have a legitimate shot to make the playoffs provided they take advantage of their remaining matchups against weaker opponents. The team’s standout thus far has been third Benjamin Kapp, who is curling 90.6 percent through three games to lead the field at his position.
United States (1-2)
Daniel Casper and his rink opened the Olympics with an 8-7 win over Czechia, thanks in large part to a three-score in the eighth end. Casper was left with a simple tap and made no mistake, then iced the game with a similar shot for one in the tenth end.
The Americans suffered a one-sided loss to Switzerland on Thursday, a game in which they shot 77 percent as a team, but bounced back to 86 percent in a Friday morning loss to Canada that was close until the eighth end.
The U.S. might not have a stellar record as of now but they’ve had a difficult schedule thus far. With their games against Switzerland and Canada now out of the way, they should have plenty of opportunities to get into the win column before closing the round robin against Great Britain on Wednesday night. Aidan Oldenburg, the team’s lead, is the positional leader at the event with a remarkable shooting percentage of 95.7.
Pressing the panic button
China (0-3)
Two of China’s losses have come against Great Britain and Switzerland, which are the top-ranked teams in the field. Friday’s loss to Norway, however, was devastating for Xiao Ming Xu’s rink. The Chinese played the Swiss close but have yet to put together a solid performance from start to finish.
One of the reasons for that is Jingtao Xu, the team’s lead, is ranked last at his position at 85.4 percent, while the team is shooting eighth overall at 81.9 percent. Based out of the Harbin Curling Club in the east Chinese province of Heilongjiang, this team needs to start winning games if they have any chance of reaching the podium next week.
Their next matchup, which is scheduled for Saturday afternoon, is against Sweden.
Sweden (0-3)
Niklas Edin is arguably the most decorated curler in the history of the game, winning three Olympic medals, seven World Championships, and eight European Championships. With that said, there’s no question he and his team are in big trouble after only three days of round robin competition.
The 40-year-old shot 69 percent in a loss to Italy and 61 percent in a loss to Great Britain. Edin improved to 79 percent against Canada but it still wasn’t enough to get his team the win, falling 8-6.
The Swedish men are the reigning Olympic gold medalists and Rasmus Wranå, Edin’s second, won gold in the mixed doubles on Tuesday alongside his sister, Isabella. Barring a massive turnaround, however, this squad will be kept off the podium in Italy.
Enjoy the pasta
Czechia (0-3)
Lukáš Klima’s rink was the first-ever four-person team to qualify for the Olympics from Czechia and they entered Milano Cortina as the lowest-ranked team in men’s competition.
The squad certainly hasn’t embarrassed themselves thus far, losing relatively close games to the United States and Norway, but they have the lowest-ranked shooting percentage as a team at 77.7. Looking at their schedule, things aren’t going to get any easier for Czechia.
The team has yet to play Great Britain, Italy, or Canada, which means they’ll need a borderline miracle to get to the five or six wins required for a playoff spot. Anything can happen, but the Czechs were always going to be an extreme longshot to make the playoffs this week and that’s exactly what’s playing out on the ice.
